Posted on: Saturday, March 26, 2005

State judge dismisses church suit

Advertiser Staff

A state judge has thrown out a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Church of Hawai'i by a 54-year-old man who alleged he was sexually assaulted by a Catholic priest in 1961.

Circuit Judge Victoria Marks granted the request by the church and the Fathers of Sacred Hearts to rule in their favor without a trial. She threw out the suit by Alexander Winchester, who claimed he was sexually assaulted by the late Rev. Alphonsus Boumeister.

The suit, which was filed in 2002, alleged Boumeister had sexually assaulted Winchester in 1961 when he was 11 and attending catechism classes at Blessed Sacrament Church in Nu'uanu.

Boumeister came to Hawai'i in 1915 and died in 1972 at age 84, according to a Catholic Church spokesman.

Marks ruled Thursday that there was no evidence of any prior acts by Boumeister that would put his employers on notice that he had a dangerous propensity of molesting children, Winchester's lawyer Philip Brown said.

Brown said his client was disappointed with the ruling. The lawyer said he will have to discuss with Winchester whether to appeal the case.

Lawyers for the church and the Fathers of Sacred Hearts could not be reached for comment yesterday.